U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, departs the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2013, after the Senate passed a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, sending the issue back to the House of Representatives. Cruz opposed the bill.
Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, insisted Sunday his filibuster to kill President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act did not “remotely” hurt the Republican Party. Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union with Candy Crowley,” Cruz said his filibuster had actually strengthened the GOP.

When asked whether his anti-Obamacare filibuster had harmed the Republican Party, Cruz replied, “Not remotely. But I also think far too many people are worried about politics.” According to the legislator: “[I]f we worry about what’s impacting the American people, the politics will take care of itself. The politicians that are gazing at polls -- there is a reason why the most common sentiment across this country is that politicians aren’t listening to us, there’s a reason why Congress has a 10 to 15 percent approval rating.”

In response, Crowley noted that while a notable proportion of Americans do not favor the Affordable Care Act, the overwhelming majority of them disapproved of the House Republicans’ tactic of shutting down the federal government in an attempt to defund Obamacare.

“Why not just get out there and win elections and overturn it with a Republican Senate and a Republican House and a Republican in the White House instead of shutting down the government, which I think you would concede hurts people who had nothing to do with Obamacare?” Crowley asked.

Cruz did not answer the question directly, but instead said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was helping to kill children with cancer by not passing bills funding the National Institutes of Health, as per a Republican plan to fund the federal government piecemeal. According to Cruz: “The response from the Democrats was, ‘How dare you question us; we’re going to shut down everything and we don’t intend to budge. That’s not a reasonable position.”